JAO adds North Sea Link (NO↔UK) border to eCAT, first monthly auction set for 17 September 2026

JAO announced that the new NO↔UK (North Sea Link) interconnector border has been added to the eCAT allocation platform, expanding cross-border capacity allocation capabilities. Entitlements have been granted to market participants that concluded the corresponding amendments to their Participation Agreements, and the system is now ready for NSL auctions, starting with the first monthly auction scheduled for 17 September 2026. The same deployment resolved a previously reported issue that prevented submission of resale notifications via the Trader UI, and included several settlement-related bug fixes and enhancements.

Onboarding the North Sea Link border into JAO's central eCAT platform means long-term transmission rights on the Norway–GB interconnector are allocated through the same platform and access framework used for other JAO borders, lowering participation barriers for cross-border hedging between the Nordic and GB markets. The fix to resale notification submission restores the secondary-market functionality that lets holders resell capacity, which supports liquidity and efficient reallocation of long-term rights.

This is a platform-implementation milestone rather than a change in allocation methodology: the design object is the technical enablement of a new border in JAO's eCAT system plus operational defect fixes. Three elements are worth tracking. First, access is conditional on contractual readiness — only participants that concluded the relevant Participation Agreement amendments received entitlements, so effective auction participation depends on the pace of contractual onboarding, a classic gating factor for first-auction liquidity on a newly onboarded border. Second, the first monthly NSL auction on 17 September 2026 is the observable test of whether the border attracts competitive bidding; monthly-only product mention in the source gives no basis to infer the wider product ladder. Third, the restoration of resale notification submission via the Trader UI is materially relevant to secondary-market functioning, as an inability to submit resales suppresses the resale channel and concentrates risk with original holders. The settlement enhancements are described only generically, so no design inference should be drawn beyond stability improvements. Overall the change is incremental and operational, but it is the go-live gate for a new interconnector border in the central long-term allocation venue.

JAO Participation Agreement and associated NSL long-term allocation rules (as referenced by the granting of entitlements upon concluded Participation Agreement amendments)

First monthly North Sea Link (NO↔UK) capacity auction in eCAT · 17 Sept 2026

Primary sources